Typewriting machine



INVENTOR J. A. B. SMITH TYPEWRI'IING MACHINE Flled Aprll 22, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 12, 1935. J. A. B. SMITH TYPEWRITING MACHINE Filed April 22, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY.

I Patented Nov. 12, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TYPEWRITIN G MAOHIN E Jesse A. B. Smith, Stamford, Conn, assignor to Underwood Elliott Fisher Compan New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application April 22, 1933, Serial No. 667,324 Claims. (01. 197-126) This invention relates to manifolding devices and hence it is not an operation that can be done for typing machines, and particularly to improvewith celerity. These disadvantages are particments in a manifolding device of the character ularly objectionable where, as in varying work seen in Patent No. 1,801,496, to J. S. Fleming, routine, the typist must frequently take one web dated April 21, 1931. out of the machine and replace another web In said Fleming device, carbons, used between therein. Each web may be threaded as usual into the plies of a continuous work-web, extend in the its individual carbon-pack, so that, when Webs form of tabs beyond the lateral edges of the workare changed, an additional interchange with r web, the tabs being united by stitching, so that spect to a common carbon-pack is avoided.

the carbons are jointly holdable while the web is It is an object of the present invention to pro- 10;

advanced relatively to the carbon-pack. The vide for ease and celerity in the removal from lengthened outer ply of carbon is folded up at and introduction to the typing machine of amulthe bottom to form a loop. Said loop co-opertiple-ply web preassembled with a Fleming-type ates with a stationary blade, in front of the carbon-pack.

platen and extending transversely of the pack, To this end, a carbon-arresting blade is pro- 15,

between the fold-forming plies, to hold the pack vided which may be readily withdrawn from the still when the work-web alone is to be advanced. path of the composite web. A gap is left between After typing a set of work-forms, the web and the retaining bar and the platen so a a W carbon-pack are advanced together until the and its carbon-pack, introduced in the usual Way,

y to hold the carbon pack stationary While the web b y nd said ap. he ut r n f th palone is further advanced to bring a fresh set of ng Ca -pa Plies may be then work-forms into register with the carbons and pom i y he d f d, to Open the W r to also bring the typed set of forms beyond the placement of the carbon-arresting blade behind the printing line of the platen. The blade was taining bar s as t c mpa t h part a disposed in juxtaposition to the back of said refurthermore, so that the retaining bar may aid taining bar, being separated therefrom by just in minimizing the tendency of the loop-forming enough space to permit threading, upwardly carbon-pack plies to slip around the blade when through said space, of the out-er one of the loophe W b is b ng ad nc While t p k is forming plies of the carbon-pack, together with s he d by Sa d ad any overlying ply of the work-web which may The blade-retaining bar may also serve as a course through said space. The blade-retaining Web-s knife Which is another reason for bar was detachably mounted at its ends in the keeping the blade close to said bar since the webplaten-frame, so that both the bar and the blade shearing operation is thereby facil tated.

fastened thereto could be lifted out clear of the In practicing the invention, the carbon-ar- After the threading operation, the bar and atis provided to hold the other end of the blade tached blade, with the plies threaded therebewhen the latter is in normal horizontal position. tween, had to be replaced with time-consuming The blade, when released, may be swung about care, to avoid buckling or scufiing of the threaded its hinge, laterally away from the web-path, prep sparatory to removing a web, or to introducing In threading plies coated with carbon through a web and carbon-pack through the gap between said space, the typists fingers are likely to bethe blade-retaining bar and the platen. come smudged. Moreover, since the space be- The composite web, after its introduction tween the blade and the bar is constricted, as exaround the platen, is opened for the replacement p ain h threading ha to be done carefully, of the arresting blade by swinging the outer carthrough the blade-supporting .bar

bon-pack loop-forming leaf temporarily forward, whereupon the blade is swung back into position behind said leaf and held by the catch to lie in the path of the aforesaid loop.

The catch is arranged so that as the blade-end is seated therein the blade becomes automatically locked. The catch is further arranged so that a slight deflective movement of the locked bladeend, by means of a finger-piece on the blade, is sufficient to release the blade from the catch.

Inexpensive paper usually constitutes the continuous web-plies from which the typed forms are severed to serve as office records. These records may be duplicates of bills or statements sent out to customers. In order that the customers billsheet may be of a better grade of paper, a separate sheet of paper is employed for the bill.

In order that the separate bill, for simultaneous typing with the record-web, may be quickly collated with said web, it is contrived to provide the carbon-pack itself with a collating gage against which the lower edge of the separate bill sheet may be presented, the carbon-pack being gaged to collating position by means of its described loop and the aforesaid blade. The webform may be collated relatively to the collated carbon-pack position either by means of an external gage or by means of registering it with some convenient portion of the carbon-pack.

The novel bill-collating gage on the web-supported carbon-pack may be in the form of a flange or ridge projecting from the face of the pack near the lower edge of the latter. To this end, there may be a strip having a longitudinal bend or fold. The portion on one side of the strip-fold may be attached to the back of the inner loopforming carbon-pack ply with the fold below the carbon-pack p, so that the portion on the other side of the fold may jut forwardly to form the sheet-gaging flange or ridge. The strip may, moreover, be made of resilient material, so that the bend or fold constitutes a hinge, whereby said forwardly-jutting gaging portion may be made to liefiat against the pack, when, instead of a separate bill being used, the outer carbon-pack ply is interleaved with the web.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure l is a perspective view of a platen-frame illustrating a web and carbon-pack in place, around the platen, and also showing the novel blade and retaining bar organization and the novel collating gage on the web-riding pack.

Figure 2 is a fragmentarycross-section view through the platen, showing particularly how the sheet-collating gage may be folded against the pack when covered by an outer web-ply which may be used instead of the separate sheet.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary side-section view to illustrate details of the blade-catch.

Figure 4 is a perspective view illustrating how the web, positioned around the platen, may be opened between the loop-forming leaves for ready insertion between said leaves of the swingable carbon-pack-arresting blade.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the carbon- .pack to illustrate the application of the novel sheet-collating gage thereto.

Figure 6 is a cross-section view through the I platen, showing how the carbon-pack is arrested by the abutment of its blade and also showing described loop with the how an outer bill-sheet may be collated by means of the novel gage provided on the carbon-pack.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary perspective view of the novel catch for the blade and shows particularly how the blade may be deflected for release from said catch.

The invention is iliustrated in connection with an Underwood platen-frame which includes end plates l0 and a rear-insertion paper-table H. A platen-axle l2, journaled in the end plates l0, carries a revoluble platen I3, against which types l-l strike. Co-operating with the platen are bottom feed-rolls l6 and H.

Figure 1 shows a multiple-ply continuous workweb l9 in working position around the platen. Interleaved with individual plies 20 of the workweb I9 is a carbon-pack 2!, shown separately in Figure 5. Said carbon-pack 2! includes individual carbon-sheets 22, having at'their lower portions lateral tabs 23. and 25 of the pack are connected at the bottom to form a loop 26 and only the inner ply 25 has the tabs 23 for union with the other sheets 22, all the tabs 23 at each side of the pack being united by a row of stitching 21 which clears the side of the work-web l9 when the latter is threaded into the carbon-pack 2|. The inner plies 22 of the packhave their bottom edges folded for re-inforcement as at 28. The lower edges between the carbons.

The web I?! is threaded into the carbon-pack 2i before the web is introduced, from the rear, between the platen l3 and the paper-table H. The leading edges of the composite web then passing between the platen i3 and lower feedrolls l6, I1, emerge at the front of the platen and continue upwardly to pass easily through a gap formed between the platen and a web-severing knife-bar 3|] extending parallel to the platen, above the printingline. Said bar 30 is secured at its ends to left and right brackets 31, 32, formed as seen in Figure l, for attachment to the platen-frame side-members In by screws 33.

A carbon-pack-arresting blade 34 co-operates with the carbon-pack loop 26 to hold the carbonpack stationary when it is required to advance the web l9 relatively to the pack as will be de scribed. Said blade 34 is hinged at one end upon a headed pivot as which may project rearwardly from a flange 35 of the right-hand bracket 32.

As seen in Figure l, the outer loop-forming ply 2 of the carbon-pack passes between the blade arresting blade 34, a procedure is followed which.

according to the present invention, can be carried out with celerity and without annoyance to the operator. According to this new procedure, when a web l9, threaded into the described carbonpack 21, is to be introduced to the platen-carriage, the blade 34 is first swung about its pivot 35 to the dotted-line position seen in Figure 1, so as to be out of the web-path. When the composite web has been entered far enough so that its leading edges are through the gap between the knife-bar 36 and the platen, as in Figure a, the web may be opened up between the loopforming plies 24 and 25 of the pack 2|, as seen in Figure 4, to permit the blade 34 to be easily returned to its horizontal position behind the The two foremost plies 24 2o ranged on the left-hand knife-bar and between the loop-forming carbon-pack plies 24 and 25. Thus, without any trouble, the outer loop-forming carbon-pack ply 24 and any overlying work-web ply are quickly disposed in their course within the constricted space between the knife-bar 30 and the blade 34, so that the latter will be in the path of the carbonpack loop 26.

A novel catch for seating and releasably holding the swinging end of the blade 34 may be arbar-supporting bracket 3|. A flange 3'! of said bracket 3| has at its upper edge a flaring lip 38, Figure 7, which cooperates with a plate 39, also having a flaring upper edge or lip, to form a pocket 40, into which the swinging edge of the blade is easily entered by reason of the flaring lips. The plate 39 is fastened directly to the rear face of the bracketflange 3'! by rivets 4| which also secure the left end of the knife-bar 30 to the front of said The rear face of said bracket-flange 31 is therefore ogged, as at 42, to form the pocketopening 40. The lower part of the flange is formed as seen in Figure 7 to form a seat 43 for the swinging end of the blade 34. Said seat 43 is formed by an indentation 4|] of the flange. By said indentation there is also formed an upper edge 44, to which the jog 42 extends, and under which edge an extension 45 of the swinging end of the blade 34 is forced when said swinging end strikes the seat 43. The blade 34 is thus locked against unintentional upward displacement.

For automatically forcing the blade-extension 45 under the holding edge 44 when the blade strikes said seat 43, the bracket-flange 31 carries a spring 41 secured by a rivet 48 which is accordingly formed as best seen in Figlocking edge 44 when the blade rests on the seat 43. As seen in Figure 7, said nose flares rearwardly out of the path of said blade-end extenspring 41 then forces said blade-end extension into said recess which, as seen in Figure 3, is also delimited by the knife-bar 30.

The blade-end extension 45 is, as seen in Figure 7, part of a finger-piece 52 secured to the blade by rivets 53. By means of said finger-piece 52, the blade, at its extension 45, may

and free when said blade is to be swung to the dotted-line position,

Figure l.

A separate bill-sheet 55, Figure 6, is readily collated with the work-web by means of a novel gage incorporated in the described carbon-pack 2|. In its preferred form, said gage is a strip 58 having a longitudinal bend or fold 59. As indicated in Figure 6, a strip-portion 60, on one side of the fold 59, is fastened to the rear surface, above the loop 26, of the inner loop-forming ply 25. A strip-portion 6 I on the other side of the fold 59 may jut forwardly, as in Figure 6, to serve as a gage for collating the bill-sheet 55.

The sheet-gaging strip 58 may be of flexible resilient material, such as stiff paper. being flexible, the bend or fold 59 acts as a hinge for the forwardly-jutting gage-portion 6|, so that may be folded against the underlying carbon-ply 24. Figure 2 shows said gage-portion 6| thus folded against said carbon-ply 24 as when an outer ply 20 of said web overlies said carbonply 24 and hence said gage-portion 6|. gaging strip 58' being resilient, the gage-portion 6| tends to spring outwardly when there is no overlying work web or ply and a separate billsheet 55 may therefore be readily presented to said gage-portion. By reason of its flexibility, the gage-portion 6| may also readily pass between the feed-rolls 6, l7 and the platen 3. The resiliency of the strip 58 causes said gage-portion 6| to jut forwardly, after passing the lower feedrolls 6, in the advance of the web. As shown in Figure 6, the composite web has been advanced to the position in which the carbon-pack, by means of its loop 26, is arrested by the blade 34. The gage-portion 6 I, jutting forwardly because of its resiliency, has, by such advance" of the composite web, been caused to underlie the bladeretaining bar 30, instead of passing behind said bar.

ner that said gage-portion will be cammed or deflected by said bar 30 to the Figure 6 position. It that, the bar 30 and blade 34 being relatively positioned as shown, the gageportion 6| is deflected by said bar 30 in order that portion 6| may function as a sheet-gage on the carbon-pack, in the absence of said bar 30.

The gage-strip 58 may, as shown in Figure 5, have its ends 51 included in the lateral stitching 27, so as to be secured to the carbon-pack. The portion 60 of said gage-strip 58 may be additionally secured to the back portion of the loop 26, as

form tops are represented by the marks 63.

The marks 63, Figure 6, also represent the location of the lines 20 may be severed.

To insure their joint retraction the web, carbonpack, and bill-sheet may be jointly gripped by the operator's hand until the lower feed-rolls engage said pack and bill-sheet.

The knife-bar 30 is secured to theright-hand bracket 32 by rivets 64. Said bar 30, its brackets 3|, 32, the carbon-arresting blade and the bladewhich may be readily attached to the platen-frame by screws 33 and which con versely may be readily removed as a unit from said frame. The unitary assembly feature conduces to economy in marketing and installation.

The loop-forming carbon-ply 24 may be coated with carbon as for manifolding upon another separate sheet 55, which, as shown in Figure 6, may be inserted between the loop-forming plies 24 and 25.

For guiding the work-web there may be at the rear of the platen-frame, at each side of the web, a guide 66, Figure 1, adjustable along a crossrod 6? mounted in brackets 68 of the platenframe.

Variations may be resorted to within the scope of the invention, and portions of the improvements may be used without others.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a typewriting machine having a platen over which a multiple-ply work-form web, threaded through a unitary carbon-pack, travels; a supporting bar spanning the platen and fixedly mounted in proximity thereto, a blade in juxtaposition to'the platen-side of said bar, said blade forming an edge co-operative with a transverse fold formed by one of the carbon-packplies to hold the carbon-pack while the work-web is advanced relatively to said pack, said one carbonpack ply for this purpose coursing between said bar and the arresting blade, and means mounting and releasably holding said blade so that it may be readily moved out of the web path preparatory to introducing the web and carbons between said fixed supporting bar and the platen, and so that said blade may then be readily replaced behind said one carbon-pack ply while the composite web is temporarily opened at said one carbon-pack ply for said blade replacement.

2. The combination with a revoluble platen around which a work-web, threaded into a unitary carbon-pack, may travel, said pack including adjacent plies joined to form a transverse loo-p, of a web-severing knife extending along the front of the platen, a carbon-stripping blade lying between said knife and the platen, said blade insertable between said carbon-plies to engage said loop and thereby arrest the carbon-pack while the web alone is to be advanced, means hinging said blade at one end, to swing upwardly and to one side out of the web path, leaving clear space between the knife and the platen preparatory to introducing the web, including the carbon-pack, around the platen and quickly advancing the leading portion past the normal'blade-position, the web being then opened between said adjacent carbon-plies for swinging the blade back into operative position between said plies; said'knifeblade confining the sheets when the stripping blade is in swung-up position, and means releasably supporting said stripping blade at the other end against the upward pull of the carbons during the carbon-stripping operation.

3. In a typewriting machine having a platenframe including side-members, and a revoluble platen over which is a multiple-ply work-web,

, threaded through a unitary carbon-pack, travels;

a cross-member arranged at its end-portions for attachment to said frame-side-members, to extend lengthwise of the platen above the printing line, said cross-member being separated from the platen by'a gap through which, in the introduction of the web together with the carbon-pack, the leading portion is readily entered, and a blade in juxtaposition to the platen-side of said crossmember, a longitudinal edge of said blade being co-operative with a transverse fold formed by one of the carbons to hold the unitary carbon-pack while the work-web is advanced relatively thereto, said one carbon for this purpose coursing between said cross-member and said blade, the latter extending transversely of the pack, one end of said blade having a hinging support connected to said cross-member, so as to be swingable laterally out of the web path preparatory to said introduction of the web and carbons, said blade being subsequently swung back behind said one carbon while the composite web is temporarily opened at said one carbon for the blade replacement, means being provided for releasably holding the blade in operative position.

4. A device for arresting a carbon-pack while a work-web is shifted relatively thereto, said pack including an arresting loop formed by a fold extending transversely of one of the carbonpack plies, said device including a bar arranged for attachment to a typewriting machine, so as to extend lengthwise of, and in proximity to, the platen of the latter, a blade hinged at one end to said bar and paralleling said bar in juxtaposition to the platen-side of the latter for engaging said loop to arrest said pack, the outer portion of the carbon-pack loop coursing, for this purpose, between said bar and blade, and a catch to releasably hold the other end of said blade, said blade when released being swingable about its hinge, away from said bar, for facilitating disposition of said outer loop-portion between said bar and blade.

5. A device for arresting a carbon-pack while a Work-Web is shifted relatively thereto, said pack including an arresting loop formed by a fold extending transversely of one of the carbonpa/ck plies, said device including a bar arranged for attachment to a typcwriting machine, so as to extend lengthwise of, and in proximity to, the platen of the latter, a blade hinged at one end to said bar and paralleling said bar in juxtaposition to the platen-side of the latter for engaging said loop to arrest said pack, the outer portion of the carbon-pack loop coursing, for this purpose, between said bar and blade, and a catch to releasably hold the other end of said blade, said blade when released being swingable about its hinge, away from said bar, for facilitating disposition of said outer loop-portion between said bar and blade, said catch including a pocket, having a flared entrance, at the platenside of said bar, one side of said pocket having a recess into which the end of said blade may be forced, so as to become locked, and a springpressed nose-piece lying in the path of the swing ing blade-end to force the latter into said recess when the same is seated in said pocket.

-6. In a web-manifolding typewriting machine, the combination with a revoluble platen and a platen-frame having side-members, of a websevering knife-bar extending lengthwise of and facing the platen in proximity thereto, one end of said knife-bar being attached to one of said side-members, the other end of said bar being attached to the outer face of a platen-confronting flange attached to the other platen-frame side-member, a carbon-pack-arresting blade hinged at one end at the first-mentioned end of said knife-bar, and extending in juxtaposition to the platen-side of said bar, said flange having an inner lateral edge indented to form a recess delimited by said knife-bar to receive the other blade-end, and a spring-pressed nose mounted so as to be disposed in the path of said other blade-end and to permit passage of the latter. as the blade is swung about its hinge and to also force said other blade-end into said recess,

said blade being releasable from said recess by a slight deflection preparatory to swinging away from said bar, for quick introduction of a carbon-pack and a work-web threaded thereinto between said knife-bar and the platen, said pack including plies forming a transverse loop, and the web being opened at said plies for swinging said blade back therebetween to co-operate with said loop for arresting said pack.

7. In a web-maniiolding machine, the combination with a revoluble platen and a platenframe having side-members, of a web-severing knife extending along the front of the platen, a carbon-pack-arresting blade between the platen and the knife and insertable between transverseloop-forming plies of a carbon-pack with a work-web passing around said platen, means whereby one end of said blade is hinged to one of said frame-side-members so as to swing away from said knife and platen, and a catch for releasably seating the other end of said blade, said hinging means and catch co-operating to at the carbon-stripping operation, said blade and knife being lengthwise of, and in proximity to, the platen beyond the printing line, said catchincluding a plate-like flange extending from the other platen-frame side-member to coincide with the plane of said blade, said flange being recessed onv one face to receive said swingable blade-end, and being provided with a spring-pressed nose for forcing said other blade-end into said recess when said blade is in working position, said knife confining the paper to the platen while the stripping blade is in its swung-up position.

8. For use in a web-typewriting machine employing a web-riding carbon-pack and having a platen, a carbon-pac arresting and web-shearing device including a shearing bar having ends arranged for ready attachment to said machine so that said bar faces said platen, a carbon-arresting blade having at one end a hinged connection to said bar, and a catch-device whereby the other end of said blade is releasably held relatively to said bar, said hinged connection and working position against catch-device supporting said blade parallel with said bar in juxtaposition to the platen-facing side of the latter, said blade co-operative, for the purpose of arresting a carbon-pack, with a carhon-pack ply coursing between said bar and said blade, said blade swingable about its hinged connection to swing away from said bar for facilitating the disposition of said carbon-pack ply between said bar and blade, said bar, the blade hinged thereto and said catch-device forming a unitary assembly arranged for ready attach- Y ment to said machine.

9. The combination with a revoluble platen and a platen-support, of a web-shearing bar connected at its ends to said platen-support to extend lengthwise of, and in proximity to, the platen, a carbon-pack-arresting blade, and means mounting said blade parallel to the shearing bar and in juxtaposition to the platen-facing side of the latter, said blade being co-operative, for the purpose of arresting a carbon-pack, with a transverse loop formed by a carbon-pack ply coursing between said bar and blade, said mounting means including a pivotal support for one end of said blade and a catch for releasably holding the other end 10. The combination with a platen over which a multiple-ply work-web, threaded into a carbon-pack, travels, said pack having two outer plies joined at thebottom by a fold, of a supporting bar fixedly connected at its ends to the JESSE A. B. SMITH. 

